Chapter 18 #2
A cit must be allowed his attempts to bargain, however futile those efforts might be. “Annette harbors a vast interest in escaping her mother’s household. Show the girl a bit of consideration, buy her a decent riding horse, and she’ll fancy you madly.”
“I see. Annette gets a horse and a husband out of your scheme. I have managed quite well thus far without a wife, and I like the horse I have. Why should I accede to your wishes, Greer? And do be succinct. The hour is late, and my day has been long.”
A father of four girls and a man married to Coraline developed vast stores of patience.
“You are a vicar turned jumped-up huckster, so I will keep the explanation simple. You get to keep running your little businesses, which I could send into bankruptcy with a few words in the right ears. You can run tame in Sorcha’s household, as you’ve been running tame.
You will have the considerable social consequence of my dear wife to call upon and a wife of your own whom you can easily manage. ”
Huxley yawned and stretched, rudeness upon poor manners. “And if a wife I can easily manage doesn’t appeal to me?”
“Huxley, is this really necessary? I understand pride better than you might think, so a bit of posturing on your part is understandable. Do you want to see Jordy and Bridget plagued by more mishaps and bellyaches? Annette truly resents the boy. All that the situation needs is a few pointed reminders of what Jordy’s existence costs her, or some teasing suggestions about how she might plague him. ”
Tallister felt some pity for the lad, though with no brothers to toughen him up, Annette’s pranks were nearly doing him a service.
“Annette does what she’s told, bless her,” Tallister went on, “and she thinks herself quite independent all the while. Has a touch of her mother’s gullibility, does my Annette.
And you dismiss the charms of a biddable wife out of ignorance.
Barclay had his hands full with Sorcha, and that is not a prospect any sensible husband relishes. ”
Huxley was quiet, probably grappling with the realization that he’d underestimated his opponent sorely.
“Did you put Annette up to menacing Jordy?” he asked.
The light was beginning to dawn. Excellent.
“I wouldn’t describe the situation that strongly.
She governs her impulses very well when her mama is on hand, but when Coraline is through dunning the girl for perfection, Annette must vent her spleen.
Coraline doesn’t understand this about her own daughter, but I do.
Mother and daughter are more alike than either realizes. ”
Huxley straightened away from the balustrade. “A wife given to nasty and dangerous pranks has no appeal, Greer. If you’ll excuse me…”
He began ambling back toward the house.
“Huxley, do you relish the thought of your businesses in ruins? Ridiculous to think a vicar could manage thriving enterprises. Perhaps nobody will blame you for wrecking what your cousin took years to build. Richard might make a place for you in his offices, but you’d best learn Spanish and Portuguese first.”
Huxley paused but didn’t bother to fully face the author of his future. “You don’t move in commercial circles, nor are you respected in them. I am not inclined to submit to your threats, but I will instead make a few of my own.”
Give the man credit for tenacity, albeit tenacity born of utter ignorance.
“Don’t bother. You either marry Annette, or I will see to it that Lady Barclay’s reputation makes the sewers seem fragrant by comparison.
You will admit that I can command the appropriate audience to effect that result.
She’s dismissed any number of eligible suitors, she never took with polite society, and she hasn’t bothered to improve her diction.
I can bring her down overnight, and then she will have you to thank for the fact that Chanderton and I allow her to see her children only at Yuletide and only with appropriate supervision. ”
Huxley came about slowly, somehow looming large with the house as a backdrop.
“To separate Lady Barclay from her children would be cruel to her ladyship, who is an exemplary parent, and to the children who love her dearly. I appreciate that you are desperate, Greer, and that you have no allies and dwindling means. I do have allies, as do the children. Ladies, Richard, if you’d join us please? ”
Tallister recognized the tread on the steps leading up from the garden. He also recognized the particular swish of skirts that presaged his wife in a howling temper.
“Huxley, you cheated!”
Huxley’s teeth gleamed in the darkness. “I was advised to play by your rules instead of my own. Sound guidance, as it happens. Your Grace, Cousin Coraline, Lady Barclay. I’m sorry to have subjected you to the night air.”
Bernard noted with some gratification that at the sight of the ladies, Tallister went as pale as moonbeams.
Then he drew himself up and attempted an affronted sniff. “Coraline will understand that I was only supporting the goal she sought to win. You’re well heeled, Huxley. God knows you’re well-heeled. Annette would know no want as your wife.”
Christian duty might require Bernard to put out Tallister’s lights before his babbling further inflamed uxorial ire.
The trio of women, escorted by Richard, formed a half circle that pinned Tallister to the balustrade.
The drop was only about a dozen feet. Otherwise, Bernard would have suggested they move the discussion indoors.
“Tallister,” Bernard said, “if you had asked me to assist with dowering your daughter, I would have gladly made a contribution. Thanks to Dolforth funds, I am more than capable of aiding family interests. In fact, I will provide that aid because the girls will need it.”
Coraline, standing between Sorcha and the duchess, stared at Bernard, which was fortunate. She was less likely to murder her husband if she was distracted by the thought that Annette might carry some resources into the battle of the ballrooms.
“Very… very sporting of you,” Tallister said. “Now, if that’s—”
“Tally.” The duchess spoke softly. “Shut your mouth.”
“Her Grace,” Bernard went on, “will sermonize and lecture and otherwise prevail upon Chanderton to assist, and I am sure Richard and Lady Barclay will come to the aid of your daughters as well. That said, I will not marry Annette, and I will never allow her ladyship and the children to be bullied and harassed by the likes of you or the boring, philandering, idle Society that you refer to as polite. Never again.”
Bernard had managed not to shout, but he did grasp for the first time why certain preachers were tempted to a fire-and-brimstone delivery. Some matters demanded memorable emphasis.
Tallister half-turned and adopted a heroic pose, gaze upon the lake in the distance. “I do hope my efforts will not be misinterpreted. I sought to spare my daughter the humiliation of multiple failed Seasons, and, Coraline, surely you understand—’’
“I do not understand, Mr. Greer.” Coraline’s voice cracked like lightning as she marched up to her husband.
“You preyed on our daughter, manipulated her when she was vulnerable and uncertain. You insult her and me before others. You are apparently responsible for the poor girl being humiliated today in front of dozens of onlookers. She could have come to real harm, just so you could scare the boy—again. You have failed me, Tallister Greer. You have failed your children. You are a disgrace to the notion of husbandly responsibility.”
Coraline had a temper. Well, well. Sorcha was smiling slightly, while the duchess was simply goggling.
“That’s fine for you to say, Corrie,” Tallister retorted, “but you haven’t exactly been my devoted helpmeet and boon companion.
Spending us into the River Tick despite my every plea to the contrary.
Putting ridiculous notions in Annette’s head.
Swanning about as if I’m made of money when, Coraline, I am made of obligations and no way to meet them. ”
Coraline shoved him hard in the chest. “What about your obligation on Little Dalrymple Street? Does she qualify as a help”—shove—“meet?” Shove, shove.
Tallister smoothed a hand over his breastbone. “She hasn’t qualified as anything for more than three years. For pity’s sake, if you’re going to spy on your husband, make a proper job of it.”
“If you two keep this up,” Bernard said, “Chanderton himself will be down here asking questions, and I, for one, will happily oblige him with honest answers. Tallister, I suggest you gather up your family and enjoy a summer in Scotland. The young ladies should know their paternal relations.”
Coraline drew away from her spouse as if he reeked of spoiled cheese. “I would not get into a coach with that man if he begged me on bended knee.”
“Then have him ride up on the box,” Sorcha said gently.
“We are offering you a chance to regroup, Coraline. Both you and Tallister have become too attached to fanciful plans and too determined to make those plans come true through any means. You both claim you want only what’s best for your children, and you are both being mendacious.
We will not give you another chance to set matters right. I will not give you that chance.”
She spoke evenly, no malice in her words, only a sort of implacable resolve.
“The air grows chilly,” the duchess said, taking Richard by the arm. “Time for me to seek my bed. Please acquaint me with your travel plans, Coraline. A departure in the next fortnight will spare you the crowded turnpikes that characterize the Season’s conclusion.”
Richard offered a general bow and decamped with the duchess.
“I’m tired,” Sorcha said. “Exhausted, in fact, and don’t think I’ve forgiven either of you.
You might have made my life so much easier, and you couldn’t be bothered.
Instead, my son has been bullied and put in harm’s way because of you.
My daughter has been terribly upset on her brother’s behalf.
You are fortunate that I refuse to retaliate by withholding my support from your offspring. Stay in Scotland as long as you like.”
She took Bernard not by the arm, but by the hand.
They left the Greers in the dark, separated by several feet, a growing silence, and an entire lake full of regrets.
“How did you know Tally was rolled-up?” Sorcha asked as she and Bernard made their way through the darkened house.
“I had him followed. Kessler gave me the idea. He set Heevers and Ipswich to chasing me around Town, reminding me to eat, reminding me to keep this meeting or not be late for that one. Walking my horse.” Bernard paused on the landing, his gaze on the next flight of stairs. “I would like a piggyback ride.”
“I am weary too. Perhaps we’re suffering battle fatigue.” And yet, Sorcha was also wonderfully relieved. The relief was creeping around the edges of her awareness, as gray light in the east presaged a brilliant day. “What did Heevers and Ipswich learn?”
Bernard started up the steps. “That Tally wastes most of his time. He strolls about Knightsbridge, idles around the book stalls in Bloomsbury, and assiduously avoids Bond Street or St. James’s proper.”
“Staying out of sight of his creditors?”
“Out of sight of friends and acquaintances as well. A man who will not seek refuge in his club is a man who is likely behind on his dues. I gather by the unwritten laws of Mayfair that is a black letter felony.”
“Certainly an indicator of shaky finances. I knew Tally’s means were limited. I did not think him…”
“Drowning,” Bernard said as they approached Sorcha’s door.
“Coraline buying out the shops, insisting on a full staff from the most expensive agencies, filling Annette’s head with dreams of princes and titles.
As a new husband, Tally probably counted on Coraline having a son.
Even had that son been the Chanderton spare, the child would have been insurance policy enough against ruin. ”
“Drat the rubbishing title. Next, you will have me feeling sorry for Tally. That, I refuse to do.” Sorcha opened her door and stepped through. “My maid sleeps in the maids’ dormitory. She claims all the best gossip is to be had from the other maids. Do come in.”
Bernard hesitated, looking bashful and serious. “If I come in, Lady Barclay, I will be hard put to comport myself with strictest decorum.”
How she loved his voice, loved his honesty. “That’s fortunate, Mr. Huxley, because I feel a protracted bout of mad passion about to befall me, and occasions such as this are not to be squandered.”
He stepped over the threshold and closed and locked the door. “I truly am tired, Sorcha, and probably not at my best.”
“It’s after midnight, the day has been interminable, and we’ve weathered the Battle of the Dolforths. I won’t be at my best either, Bernard, but right now, if all you do is hold me, I will count the day a victory.”
He did hold her. At some point after both parties had properly rested, a bout of mad passion also ensued, and the night saw victories for love and pleasure.
Bernard and Sorcha explained the fact of their betrothal to the children during the coach ride back to London.
An earnest discussion ensued regarding appropriate names for any siblings who might join the family.
Jordy argued for Draco, while Bridget pointed out that a girl might prefer to be named Pendragon.
As it happened, both names were pressed into service eventually, with Richard being named as godfather to the first, despite the complications that good fellow was experiencing elsewhere in his life.
But that, of course, is a tale for another time!